DCAF and Burger Sounds are excited to announce Day 1 of My Body My Festival 2025: Rage to Survive, featuring Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones, Cecily, Kalia Vandever and Zoë Jorgenson! As always, ticket proceeds go directly to the DC Abortion Fund!
Rage to Survive responds to the realities of organizing for abortion access, liberation, and community safety under a second Trump administration. While DC has always survived through the whiplash of political administrations, we know 2025 will bring unprecedented challenges to the DC community, as well as the national abortion access landscape. My Body My Festival 2025 will couple anger with our signature joy, treating rage as a tool for catharsis and change under a hostile government. We intend to rejuvenate our community, refill our activist cups, strengthen and sharpen our rage toward the systems and individuals which harm us, and build enough power to threaten and drive out the fascists among us. This year’s festival will treat rage as a place of safety and power our community can always return to, and imbue plenty of DC love and anti-capitalist messaging along the way.
Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones pushes the boundaries of free jazz, composition and electronic forms, with the raw riotous energy of “spiritual punk”, comprised of vocalist, composer and keyboardist Amirtha Kidambi (Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl, Darius Jones), saxophonists Matt Nelson (Battle Trance, Grid, Lydia Lunch’s Retrovirus) and Alfredo Colon (Henry Threadgill, Moses Sumney, Nduduzo Makathini), bassist Lester St. Louis (jaimie branch’s Fly or Die, Wendy Eisenberg’s Darlin’, HxH), and drummer Jason Nazary (Anteloper, Saint Abdullah). The ensemble’s instrumentation undergirded by the drone of the Indian pump organ harmonium forms an intricate landscape for Kidambi’s voice to traverse; she battles against its mountainous heights before sliding speedily down its slopes. Truly making an instrument of her vocal chords, Kidambi’s syllabic, frenzied, and powerful utterances weave into the alluring, hypnotic, and confronting jazz melodies of the ensemble. Dealing with issues such as power, capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, and fascism, Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones are not shy to confront and resist systems of oppression and control through their music. As such, a sense of ancestral energy pulses through their performances; it feels as though they are not alone on the stage, but are rather carried along by an old knowledge buried deep within the music.
The subversive spirit and sense of collectiveness cultivated during mass demonstrations across New York City in the wake of the tragic murder of George Floyd serves as the driving force behind their forthcoming album New Monuments. Kidambi describes the title as a metaphor for tearing down old colonial monuments, paving the way for the rebuilding of new symbols. New Monuments is out on We Jazz Records (EU).
Vocalist and songwriter Cecily (pronounced Ses-Suh-Lee) is known for her agile soprano and honest lyrics. The Washington, DC native has a rich, soothing sound rooted in mid-century Soul and Jazz. Often drawing comparisons to Minnie Riperton and Amel Larrieux, her music is imbued with a unique sensuality that informs not only her vocal approach, but also her self-reflecting lyrics.
Cecily has been heralded for her poetic writing style. Grounded in an easy vulnerability, her lyrics speak of deep lessons around self-acceptance, freedom, community and love.
Her current album Awakening Pt. II, releasing July 26th, was directly inspired by Black Feminist writer bell hook’s text All About Love. The eight-track album explores unconditional love and its transformative power. Going beyond the romantic, Cecily delves into what hooks calls a “love ethic,” with songs navigating familial love, self-love, divine love, and love of the Earth.
The current album is Cecily’s eagerly anticipated continuation of the critically acclaimed Awakening Pt. I. The 2019 release landed her first SoulTracks Readers’ Choice Awards nomination for Best Female Vocalist of the Year and an Indie Soul Music Award for Best Female Artist of the Year. The project was named “Best New Soul on Bandcamp” by Chaka Grier of the Bandcamp Editorial Team, who praised her ability to blend “top-notch songwriting and thoughtful self-reflection with a gentle jazz-influenced sound.”
Part 1’s lead single “Clumsy” won a 2020 Washington Area Music Award (WAMMIE) for Best Soul Song, and had its music video premiere on BETSOUL and BET.com, which praised the tracks “gorgeously sultry vocals.”
Cecily’s 2018 album Songs of Love and Freedom, garnered her a 2019 WAMMIE Award for Best Soul Album and was named “Best New Soul on Bandcamp” by the Editorial team, who described the project as “stirringly timeless and modern.”
Praised across all the musical worlds from which she draws influence, Cecily featured on modern jazz stylist José James’ project No Beginning No End 2. She has opened for award winning jazz and soul artists Gregory Porter, Ezra Collective, Nate Smith, and Maysa, R&B stars Johnny Gill, Kenny Lattimore and Elle Varner, folk artist Becca Stevens and alternative soul pioneer Bilal.
Cecily has been featured at the Essence Festival of Culture, Capital Jazz Fest, The Atlanta Jazz Festival and DC Jazz Festival. She has performed multiple times at the legendary Blues Alley and Apollo Music Café, as well as The Kennedy Center, The Hamilton, Howard Theater, and at the VI Annual Mompox, Colombia Jazz Festival, having been invited by the US Embassy.
Cecily is also an experienced voice teacher certified in Somatic Voicework and trained at Shenandoah University’s Vocal Pedagogy Institute. She also leads guided meditations and sound healing workshops. On three occasions her meditations have been chosen as Editor’s Picks and featured on the homepage of Insight Timer, the #1 meditation app in the country.
From creating and performing to teaching and coaching, everything Cecily does is grounded in her commitment to create work that celebrates vulnerability as a strength, unconditional love as a grounding principle, and joy as an innate human right.
Kalia Vandever is an American trombonist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her approach to the trombone is distinctive and defined by her sonorous tone and lyrical improvisational voice, allowing patience and melody to guide her process.
Vandever received her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School. She has toured and performed internationally with her quartet, performing at the Winter Jazz Festival and BRIC Jazz Festival. She has performed with Joel Ross, Immanuel Wilkins, and Fay Victor, as well as popular artists Harry Styles, Lizzo, Japanese Breakfast, Moses Sumney, Jennifer Hudson, and Demi Lovato. She has appeared on Saturday Night Live, as well as Samantha Bee’s Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
Vandever is an awardee of the 2022 Next Jazz Legacy, a program founded by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
Zoë Jorgenson has been a working bassist for many years, building a grand catalog of leader and side-person work. As she discovered her voice, she began adding vocal lines and weaving together influences from her time in various multi-genre groups. You’ll hear indie-rock noise, minimalist ambient sounds, folk, and improvised traditions that deepened her love for the bass. A Las Vegas native, she embodies the desert’s wide-open skies and jewel-toned sunsets. Her compositions reflect this, paired with a dynamic, melodic stage presence. Most recently, she was a Strathmore Artist in Residence at the prestigious Strathmore Music Center.
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